Nurse to brand new dad: So, Mr. Grassley would you like to hold your baby close to your skin?
Mr. Grassley: Sure, thanks.
So why did Ryan Grassley open up his bill for the C-section his wife received at the Utah Valley Hospital and see a $39.95 charge for “skin-to-skin” for the short time he held his son following his wife Lidia’s cesarean section.
Grassley uploaded the bill onto the social networking bulletin board site Reddit to give users there a laugh and it went viral.
The post got 11,700 comments too! The hospital explained that the cost was associated for having another nurse enter the room to facilitate the transfer and watch dad.
As we all know, the cost of labor and delivery in America is triple and quadruple that of the UK and other countries. When I had my first child 14 years ago, the total amount billed my insurance was $11,000.
I know that people have C-sections in developing nations at decent hospitals and I am certain that it does not cost them that much to have a medically-assisted birth.
“In the case of a C-section, where the bedside caregiver is occupied caring for the mother during the surgery, an additional nurse is brought into the [operating room] to allow the infant to remain in the [operating room] suite with the mother,” Janet Frank, a hospital spokeswoman, said.
Grassley said he was not upset over the charge but thought it was humorous and as a joke he put up a GoFundMe page which had gotten about $125 of his $39 goal as of this posting!
A lot of people didn’t like or get the joke but c’est la vie.
“To be clear I wasn’t complaining or trying to send people on a witch hunt for the hospital,” Grassley wrote on his Go Fund Me page. ” We had a very positive experience during the birth of our son, and the hospital and staff were great throughout the entire process.”
Good!
h/t My hubby!